Druidsway
Please take note : All kittens who leave the Druidsway cattery are insured by Petplan for the first six weeks which is standard for most breeders. That said, please be aware that I do not believe that it is wise to tell your vet that your cat or kitten is insured. Whilst I realise that I may sound over-cautious, events which have happened involving kittens I have sold have led me to include this page on my site.
Realistically, your vet does not need to know if the kitten is insured. I must strongly advise that you do not admit to any insurance cover until you have thoroughly discussed any prospective treatment or procedure for your pet and have decided on a course of action and the total cost. Then and only then should you admit to insurance. Remember, even an honest vet can be tempted to earn easy money. You also have to bear in mind any restrictions that the insurance company may place on your policy against future claims. You have to be sure that any procedure is absolutely necessary.
The first event was when a friend (we shall call her Liz) collected her cat from a local cattery and he later developed cat flu in spite of being innoculated. Obviously the symptoms were much reduced but Liz was upset to see the cat looking sorry for himself with runny eyes and nose and no appetite. She rang me in some distress and I said that there was no short cut, the virus would have to run its course but if she consulted the vet she would probably be given antibiotics for the cat to stop any secondary infection.
Liz did consult her vet who asked if the cat was insured. When he was advised that the cat did indeed have insurance he suggested that the cat may in fact have a grass seed trapped in his nasal passages which could be causing the problem. Liz agreed for the vet to perform a surgical procedure to look for the said grass seed. Not surprisingly, he did not find one. Liz was upset that four days into the illness her cat seemed no better. She rang me again and I reiterated that the virus had to run it's course and she was only half way through. She had once more consulted the vet who suggested giving the cat a sinus washout. I said if she allowed her vet to do that I would report him to the BVA and never speak to her again as the idea was abhorrent. Four days later, the cat had recovered without further invasive intervention from the vet.
This August I sold two kittens to a lady I work with - we shall call her Sue: I suggested that it was courtesy to ring her chosen vet to get the kittens details registered before going to visit later in the year when the kittens would be due to be neutered. The receptionist said that the kittens would have to be taken to the surgery for a health check. Sue asked me if that would be necessary. I said that no, it would not - my vet had checked the kittens very thoroughly when they had their course of injections.
Sue rang the vet to cancel the appointment for a health check - afterall, why waste money on an unnecessary consultation. The vet persuaded her to take the male kitten along since he was five months old by then and suggested that if he was mature enough, he could be neutered that week but that if he was not ready, he could be left for another few weeks. She agreed. The vet pronounced the kitten mature enough for neutering so he was booked in for surgery the following day. Sue came to my desk the following morning very upset, the vet had rung to say that her kitten had a retained testicle and that they would have to open his abdomen to find and remove it. The procedure would be around £200 but the insurance would cover it. He also said 'by the way - his adult teeth are coming through but his milk teeth are in the way so I'll have to remove them'. When Sue related this to me I told her ring them back - if he isn't already being operated on cancel the surgery and bring him home. The kitten was only five months old - that testicle would probably have descended on its own and his adult teeth would have pushed out the milk teeth without a problem. The vet's receptionist said that it was too late, the kitten was already in surgery. He came home with an incision which would have done credit to a post mortem - all the surgery was unnecessary and costly. I felt sorry for Sue and for Petplan but the real victim was the kitten.